Sorting machine



July 24, 1951, J. D. AUMAN '2,561;413

SORTING MACHINE Fi led Feb. 1, 1947 s Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

July 24, 1951 J. D. AUMAN SORTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 1, 1947 July 24, 1951 J. D. AUMAN I SORTING MACHINE 3 Shuts-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 1, 1947 INVENTOR.

Patented July 24, 1951 SOR'EING MACHINE James D. Auman, Lancaster, Pa.,assignor to Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 1, 1947, Serial No. 725,787

The present invention relates to sorting machines and, more particularly, to a machine for sorting generally cylindrical objects, such as wood'tops for corks. The invention is not limited to the sorting of such articles, however, but will be'found useful in the sorting of other generally cylindrical articles which are capable ofbeing rolled on edge.

It is an object of my invention to provide an. apparatus which will receive generally cylindrical articles promiscuously fed. thereto with some of the articles facing in one direction and others of the articles facing in the opposite direction and will sort and position such articles so that all will be disposed in one direction with a predetermined face disposed upwardly.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sorting apparatus of the type mentioned above which will be effective for discharging defective articles prior to the final positioning of the acceptable articles with their fiat faces upwardly.

Further objects of my invention will be clear from .the description which follows.

In the manufacture of cork stoppers having wood tops, the tops are frequently embossed and are decorated with colored inks, lacquers, enamels, or the like prior to assembly of the tops with the cork stoppers. The machines which are used for coating or decorating the tops receive the tops with their top surfaces disposed upwardly so that the decorating ink or other coating material may be applied thereto. The coating machines generally are of an automatic nature and operate upon a plurality of the tops simultaneously. After the decorating operation, the tops are frequently fed to a drying oven, and,

9 Claims. (Cl. 209-72) after completion, to an assembly machine where the tops must be disposed with their bottom sides up so that adhesive may be applied and the corks positioned thereon for joining of the corks and tops. It is necessaryin such operations, therefore, to sort the tops and align them for these operations.

In the manufacture of the tops, it frequently happens that the wood is imperfect, and this results in defective tops. One of the most common defects is incomplete or broken-edge formation, and this defect may not be readily detected by the inspectors, unless the tops are individually rotated within their vision.

According to my invention, the tops are fed to an inclined trackway with some of the tops facing in one direction and others facing in the opposite direction. The trackway is covered. with a frictional material which prevents the articles from slipping and insures that they rotate in their travel down the trackway. The articles have a greater diameter adjacent one face than they dc adjacent the other, and, as a consequence, when they are rolled, they tend to describe an arcuate path. Defective articles, particularly where the skirt portions of the articles are incomplete or broken away, do not follow a true arcuate path, and their direction of motion is not predictable, for when the articles rotate to a position where a defect is in engagement with the trackw'ay, the path of movement may be and frequently is at a sharp angle with respect'to the normal path of movement. The trackway is divided into two segments, and guides are provided for each segment to limit the arcuate path of travel of the acceptable articles. Thearticles come into rolling engagement with the guides, with one of their flat surfaces lying in engagement therewith. The divergent portions of the traclzway are separated by an open area, and articles, such. as the defective ones mentioned above, which do not follow the guides but move irregularly with respect to the normal path of movement, drop through this opening andare discharged from the machine.

In order that my invention may be more readily understood l shall describe the same in connection with the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is "a diagrammatic assembly view showing the mechanism of my invention attached to. a hoppering and feeding device and dispcsed to feed articles to a decorating machine;

Figure 2 is a top plan view illustrating the trackway of my invention;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line III- III of Figure 2;

Figure 4: is a sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of a pair of guiding chutes for attachment to the traclrway of Figure 2,the chutes being shown to a slightly larger scale than in the trackway in Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of one of the guide chutes of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the disposition of. articles on the trackway of Figure 2;

Figure 8 is a schematic View showing the movement of the articlesto be sorted from a conveyor belt onto the trackway of Figure 2;

Figure 9 is a perspective View of an article which the machine of the present-invention is adapted to sort;

3 Figure is a sectional view taken on the line X-X of Figure 5;

Figure 11 is a sectional view taken on the line XI-XI of Figure 5; and

Figure 12 is a perspective view illustrating a defective article similar to the article of Figure 9 which the sorting device of this inventionwill reject.

Referring to Figure '1, there is shown a feeder 4 and are provided adjacent the inside edges of the segments l3 and M to curve the surfacing material upwardly, as shown in Figures 2 and 4. Referring now to Figure 9, there is shown an 5 embossed wood top 2| which is provided on its bottom surface with a recess 22 which receives a cork stopper, the same being adhesively joined to the wood top. The skirt of the top is knurled, as indicated at 23, and there is a bead 24 on the 2 Which y be f the yp l s d and la m d to" periphery adjacent the bottom. As W111 be noted in the copending application of George Paul Potter, Serial No. 724,763, filed January 28, 1947. m

place of the feeding device shown," any- 'othei feeder which is effective for disposing the articles fromexamination of this figure and the tops shown in Figures 7, 10, and 11, the diameter of thetbp at'the head is greater than the diam ter-ot the top surface 25. Thus, if the top n edge n conveying h m o y in m h 6 2i "'isrolled on' edge, it will tend to describe an nism may be employed. The sorter of ithe pres- 1,

ent invention is indicated generally at 3 in Fig ure 1 and is eifective for delivering articles 4"onto a conveyor belt 5 which continuously carries the arc'in its travel, the top moving in the direction of thesmaller diameter 25. The radius of the arches'cribed will depend upon the difference in diameter between the bead 24 and the top surface articles into and through a decorating m'echaiiisrn fio 25-93nd th i gi l distance between the surface? vided for conveying defective or rejected article's zs from the trackway 3 'into'a'tote' box1flor other receptacle; 5 i711 Referring 'now toFigure '2, the trackway '3 may" be'formed of sheet metal," as"shown, or, "if deengaging lines on the top, but, in most instances;

the-"radius of'the arc will be fairly large. In a,-

stopper top, such as shown in Figure 9, the radius will be in' the neighborhood of II". I

The'articles fed by the feeder 2 are disposed."

in'single file at'the entrance end of the trackway 3. Some of the articles will face in one direction: f

and othrs will face in the opposite direction; A

rolling' motion will be'imparted to the topsas s ed; m y be fillmed (if WOOd 1' ot er mater al. they move down the inclined trackway, and since The trackway 3'is secured to the hopper Tait one endand, in the "embodiment illustrated, is'i'ri' clined at an angle of about 5 to the horizontaL The degree of inclination willdepe nd' to' soine extent; of course, upon the nature of the article being sorted, their size'and geometriccoiifi gui" tion. 'The inclination should be maintained small as possible but must'be efiective't'o permit the'articles'to roll freely and with dispatch there along v ".f

The trackway 3 has a bottom" which;fadja cent the entrance end'th'er'eof, "is of a"-"vvidth"- slightly greater than the axial" length of the articles being 'operat'ed 'upon; The bottom 11" increases in width from its entrancend 'to' a -1 the articles havea greater diameter adjacent one face than adjacent the other, as previously mentionecl, they will describe an arc, and those which have the smaller diameter facing to the right will- S move in that general direction until they come into engagement with a guide 26; as shown in Figure 4. Those having the smaller diameter=- facing to'the left will move in an arc until they engage the guide 21. The articles willcontinue 749 to roll dowri'the trackway 3, and since their natural tendency is to move in directions toward the guides 26 and 21, the articles'will lieclosely adjacent thereto throughout the length of'the trackway;

to their proper location in their initial movement fromthe entrance end of the trackway to a positiorYwh'e'r'e their outeredge surfaces are in en- 'gagementwith: the guides 26 or 21, the wires [8,

unobstructed orienting'surfa'ceofithe trackway-m ls'f and 20 are provided so as to arch the lower and I4, and this-opening is "o'fa' 'width adjacent the exit end of the trackway substantiallygreater than the'axial length-of 'the articles being' oberated upon and tapers to the point [2. This openingmust be of a size sufficient to pass're' jected articles therethrough; i The bottom H of the trackway'3 is covered with a covering 1 6 of frictional material, such as a sheet of cork composition; This insures that the articles moving thereover will not slide on the surface but will be rotated. -This is particularly desirable Where the peripheral surface of the articles being treated is knurled or corrugated, as frequently occurs in wood tops. The covering, preferably, extends throughout. the whole length of the trackway,including the segments surface of the trackway upwardly; thus, any articleswhich move toward such arched portions willbe immediately deflected and caused to movepermit the tops to orient themselves adjacent The same is true'of the thegui'oles 2t and 27.

arched portion ill which divides the trackway bottom ll into the segments l3 and M; This length Will depend upon the diameter of: the articles being sorted and the are which they de- F scribe, which, as mentioned above, depends upon the difference between the-diameters of the inner and outer surfaces and their axial length With a top 1 in diameter at the lower surface and 1%" in diameter at the top surface and an axial length of the distance from the entrance end of the trackway 3 at the line 28 to the point ZS'r'naybe about 7", and from the line 28 to the point I2 about 20". The length of the trackway from its feed end 28 to the exit end of the segments 13 and M may be about 2'7", with the- II of the trackway. Corresponding members 19 opening [5 about 2 at the base and '7" long.

Inorder to insure that'the articles are directed Figure lZ illustrates a defective, top in; which the-skirtbead Z4 is partiallybroken away, as in dicatedat As mentioned above, this may c cur;by reason; of defects in the wood blankfrom which the top is farmed such defective tops from themachine, and the It is desirable to eject device of the present invention. is effective for,

removing such defective tops.

A defective top, such as that shown in Figure 12, when moving down the trackway II, will start to describe an arcuate, path until the defective portion til comes into engagement with the ,trackway; whereupon, the article will take upon, a further movement will occur. When the top reaches a position, such as shown at 3| or 32, in Figure 7, the top will. drop through the opening,, l5,,and, .as shown in Figure 1, will fall into the chute 5? and be delivered into the tote box It.

The satisfactory articles moving down the segments It, and it must be turned through 90 to bring the desired flat faces upwardly. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, where the top surfaces of the wood tops are to be decorated, the articles must be moved to a position where all of them have their top surfaces upwardly, that is, the reverse of the position shown in Figure v9. This is effected by means of the chutes shown in Figures 5, 6, 10, and 11. These chutes 33 and 3d are of opposite hand. The chute 33 is provided with a left-hand twist of 90, and the chute 34 is provided with a right-hand twist of 90. The chutes are generally of rectangular cross section, as shown in Figures and 11, and are preferably formed of a sheet metal tube which is filled with a plastic material and twisted, the plastic material being then melted out. The articles rolling down the segment l3 into the chute 33 enter in the position shown in Figure 10. They are rotated through 90 in passage through the chute 33 and are discharged in the position shown in Figure 11 onto the conveyor belt 5. The articles moving down the segment M of the trackway 55 enter into the chute 3d and are rotated through 90 which brings their upper surfaces'to the top, as indicated in Figure 11, so that all of the tops are fed to the machine with their top sides up.

Where the device is to be used for presenting wood tops to an assembly machine or other operation where the bottom sides should be up, the chutes and will be reversed so that the chute will. have a right-hand twist and the chute 3 3 a left-hand twist. This will be effective for moving the articles through 90, in each instance to bring the tops into a position where the bottom faces are disposed upwardly.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the same may be otherwise embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims:

I claim:

1. In a device for sorting articles such as stopper tops or like substantially cylindrical articles having a diameter adjacent one face greater than adjacent the other, said articles being fed to the device on edge with some of the articles facing in one direction and some in the opposite direction, to position the articles all in one direction with a selected fiat face disposed upwardly, the com bination of an inclined trackway down which articles] and guide members defining the outer edges of the-trackway, said trackway being sub- ,stantially unobstructed adjacent said opening to' permit defective articles to pass therethrough.

2. In a device for sorting articles such as stopper tops or like substantially cylindrical, articles having a greater diameter adjacent one face than adjacent the other and which describe an arcuate path when rolled on edge to separate the same from defective blanks of a similar nature but not of regular peripheral contour and which describe: an erratic path when rolled on r, eclge,,sa.id articles, and blanks being fed to the device on edge with some of the articles and blanksfacing in one direction and some in theopposite-direction, to position the articles all in one direction with a selected flat face disposed upwardly, and to discharge the defective blanks, the combination of a trackway inclined downwardly from its feed end, said trackway' being divided into two divergent portions with an opening therebetween, guide members projecting upwardly from said trackway and limiting outward movementof the articles as they roll along the trackway, and means positioned adjacent the openin to guide articles rolling on said trackway toward said guides and away from said opening but permitting defective blanks to pass nature but, not of regular peripheral contour and which describe an, erraticpath when rolled on edge,.said articles and blanksbein fed to the device on edge with some of the articles and,

blanks facing in one direction and some in the oppo sitedirection, to position the articles all in one, direction with a selected flat face disposed upwardly, and, to discharge the defective blanks, thecombination of a trackway inclined downwardly from itsfeed end, said trackway being In"! vided into two divergent portions with an opening therebetween, guide members projecting upwardly fromsaid. trackway adjacent the outer edges thereof, a covering of frictional material on said trackway to prevent slippage of said articles and cause the same to roll on edge, means positioned belowsaid covering to curve the same slightly upwardly adjacent said opening to cause said articles while rolling down said trackway to move outwardly from the opening toward said guide members projecting from the trackway, said curved surface being insufficient to deflect said defective blanks from movement over said curved surface and through said opening for discharge from. said I trackway.

4. In a device for sorting articles such as stopper tops or like substantially cylindrical articles having a greater diameter adjacent one shitty-er astray -=-=maaea amass from its feed" end, said trackway being-divided into two "divergent portions with an opening thereb'etween for the passage of defective blanks,

and guide means on opposite sides of said trackway'fo'r limiting the curved path described by said articles as they roll on edge along said trackwayi In a device for transferring articles of a where the articles are disposed with a selected fiat face disposed upwardly, the combination of a trackway inclined downwardly from said hop pe'r which delivers the articles to the trackway on" edge, said trackway having a wide flat surface down which the articles freely and unobstructedlyroll on edge in an arcuate path, guides provided at opposite sides of the trackway to limit outward movement of the articles in their travel "along said trackway, said trackway being divided into two divergent portions with an openingtherebetween for the dischargeof defectiv'e, articles, and a turnover chute adjacent each guide to receive articles moving on edge along said guides, one of said chutes having a right-hand twist and the other having a left-hand twist to turn said articles in their travel therethrough from a substantially vertical 4 to a substantially horizontal position, said track way delivering said articles selectively to said chutes inaccordance with the position of each article as it, is delivered to the trackway from. said, hopper, said chutes being inclined downwardlyfrom said trackway to deliver the articles bygravity to said conveyor with theselected fiatface of each article disposed upwardly.

6. In a device for transferring articles of a substantially cylindrical nature from a hopper where the articles are disposed on edge to aconveyor where the articlesare disposed with a selectedflat face disposed upwardly, the combination. of a gravity trackway inclined downwardly from the hopperwhich delivers the articles to the, trackway on edge, said trackway being of substantial width for a portion of its length to permit articles rollingtherealong .in arcuate paths to move to the :right and to the left from the center line thereof to assumea position outwardly. from the center, guides for limiting such outward movement of the articles rolling along the trackway,

said trackway being divided into twotrelatively narrow portions adjacent its exit end with-an opening of substantial area disposed-therebetween for the passage of defective articles which do not follow-theguides, and turnover chutes disposed.

adjacent said guides for receiving articles from the guides selectively on edge in accordancewith the position of each article as it-enters the trackway and for changing the position of said articles from-an edgewise position to a position with-a selected flat face disposed upwardly.

7. In a device for sorting substantiallycylindriwidening discharge end, means for delivering said reens articles tosaid trackway onedge-at-the' delivery end thereof, a wide, flat, unobstructed orienting surface on said trackway between the ends which is more than twice as wide as the width of said articles in an axial direction and down which said articles freely and unobstructedly roll on edge in an arcuate path from said delivery end toward said discharge end, guide members against which thearticles are directed in their arcuate movement along said trackway with the small diameter faceof each article lying in engagement with one of said guide members, and a pair of inclined chutes associated with said trackway at the discharge end thereof for changing said articles from a position with their axes parallel to the surface of the trackway to a position with their axes perpendicular thereto, one of said chutes having a right-hand twist and the other a left-hand twist, said trackway delivering said articles selectively to said chutes in accordance with the po sition of each article as it enters the trackway.

8. In a device for sorting substantially cylindri calarticles having one face of smaller diameter than the other which will stand on edge, such as stopper tops or the like, and which are fed to the device on edge with some of the articles facing'in one direction and some in the opposite direction to position the articles all in one direction'with a selected flat face disposed upwardly,

the combination of an inclined trackway having a relatively narrow delivery end and a gradually, widening discharge end, means for delivering said articles to saidtrackway on edgeat thedelivery end thereof, a-wide, fiat, unobstructed orienting surface on said trackway between the ends which is more than twice as wide as the width of,v said articles in an axial direction and down which said articles freely and unobstructedly roll on edge in an arcuate path from said delivery end toward said discharge end, a frictional covering material on said trackway, guide members against I which the articles are directed in their arcuate movement along said trackway with the small diameter face of each article lying in engagement with one of said guide members, and a pair of inclined chutes associated with said trackway at the discharge end thereof for changing said articles from a position with their axes parallel tothe surface of the trackway to a position with their axes perpendicular thereto, one of said chutes having a right-hand twist and the other a left hand twist, said trackway delivering said articles selectively to said chutes in accordance with the position of each article as it enters the trackway.

9. In a device for sorting substantially cylindri-- cal articles having one face of smaller diameter than the other whichwill stand on edge, such' as stopper tops or the like, and which are fed to the device on edge with some of the articles facing in one direction and some in the opposite direction'to position the articles all in one direction with a selected fiat face disposed upwardly, the combination of an inclined trackway having a relatively narrow delivery end and'a gradually widening discharge end, means for deliveringsaid articlesto said trackway on edge at the delivery end thereof, a wide, fiat, unobstructed orienting surfaceon said trackway between the ends which is more than twice as wide as the width of said articles in an axial direction and down'which said articles freely and unobstructedly roll on edge in an arcuate path from said delivery end toward said discharge end, guide members against which the articles are directed in their arcuate movement along said trackway with the small diameter face of each article lying in engagement with one of said guide members, a central projection in said trackway spaced from the entrance end thereof for guiding articles moving along said trackway selectively toward the right or left thereof, said projection being inclined gradually from the center of the trackway toward the guide members at the outer edges thereof, and a pair of inclined chutes associated with said trackway at the discharge end thereof for changing said articles from a position with their axes parallel to the surface of the trackway to a position with their axes perpendicular thereto, one of said chutes having a right-hand twist and the other a left-hand twist, said trackway delivering said '10 articles selectively to said chutes in accordance with the position of each article as it enters the trackway.

JAMES D. AUMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

